This invention relates generally to controlling biologic functions, such as for antibiotic purposes, and more particularly, to utilizing hybridization techniques of the type having messenger ribonucleic acid attached to oligonucleotides for in vivo protein synthesis regulation.
In the field of pharmacology, the use of therapeutic agents has long been recognized as an effective way to control diseases. Such agents are often used in treating bacterial or viral infections, chemical imbalances and the like, to cure, or at least mitigate, the diseased state. Although researchers occasionally discover new therapeutic agents after major break-throughs have elucidated the molecular basis of a disease, more often they must rely on observing for antibiosis or modifying the chemical structures of functionally related chemicals.
With respect to antibiotic agents, some are quite effective at the outset, but over time many organisms become resistant or totally immune to their action. Additionally, very few effective anti-viral agents have ever been developed, and without explicit, detailed knowledge of an infecting organism's physiology, the development of new operative agents remains haphazard.
Thus, there exists a definite need for a methodology enabling the systematic design of new antibiotics and other therapeutic agents that is versatile and inexpensive, yet produces agents that are both extremely specific and effective. The present invention fulfills these needs.